Linkswell Radio/Infotainment replacement. Looking for thoughts from those who may have tried it.

[CammeronJ]

I was browsing youtube and this video popped up on my feed:



The guy in the video calls it responsive but It seemed a bit delayed in his video.
I also found some of the quirks (like it doesn't detect/read angle of the vehicle properly?) to be interesting.

However I can't lie I'd love more room on the screen for Maps and Audio together, and I would feel better about later speaker upgrades as this seems to allow for "plug and play" amplifiers. Plus not having to cut the wiring harness seems like a plus.

Anyone have any experience with the unit?

Sponsored

 

[moe3754]

I had one for a Ram I had. First off if you do not buy from a linkswell dealer you will be denied any warranty claims that means if you buy from e Bay or Amazon you will have no warranty. Second there are very few dealers and that means self-install like I did and that can be very difficult if you are not electronics inclined. Also, you have to know how your dash comes apart as to not cause any damage. Linkswell does not support ford pass so you would lose that and probably a few other things. If you have the B&O sound system in your Ranger, you will have to buy an adaptor and if you want satellite radio you will need an adaptor for that.

All in all, for what they want and for what you get they are not a good investment at all there are better radios out there and you can have them installed correctly! There are many other things to tell but I do not want to write a book about it, their prices are really high and the directions on what wires go where are very poor. I had to buy my radio from a dealer in Seattle he was the only one near me and I had numerous phone calls to him when I installed mine. Two days after I installed it, I was sorry I ever bought it and removed it and replaced the factory radio! As I said there are better radios out there.

Also do not believe what you see on YouTube because I made that mistake, and my install was completely different and as for not cutting wires well let's just say you will find out. Also, I found out that linkswell uses these people to sell their stuff I found this out from the dealer I got mine from.

 

[CammeronJ]

I had one for a Ram I had. First off if you do not buy from a linkswell dealer you will be denied any warranty claims that means if you buy from e Bay or Amazon you will have no warranty. Second there are very few dealers and that means self-install like I did and that can be very difficult if you are not electronics inclined. Also, you have to know how your dash comes apart as to not cause any damage. Linkswell does not support ford pass so you would lose that and probably a few other things. If you have the B&O sound system in your Ranger, you will have to buy an adaptor and if you want satellite radio you will need an adaptor for that.

All in all, for what they want and for what you get they are not a good investment at all there are better radios out there and you can have them installed correctly! There are many other things to tell but I do not want to write a book about it, their prices are really high and the directions on what wires go where are very poor. I had to buy my radio from a dealer in Seattle he was the only one near me and I had numerous phone calls to him when I installed mine. Two days after I installed it, I was sorry I ever bought it and removed it and replaced the factory radio! As I said there are better radios out there.

Also do not believe what you see on YouTube because I made that mistake, and my install was completely different and as for not cutting wires well let's just say you will find out. Also, I found out that linkswell uses these people to sell their stuff I found this out from the dealer I got mine from.

Thank you for the heads up. That's kind of what I was worried about but glad I asked. For something so expensive ($1600) there are just to many things that aren't polished. Why is there not a ranger selection, and then a trim selection this would solve 90% of the options users need to set themselves that I've seen and then you could leave minimal config to the user. Why not have detection when certain devices are plugged in (like rearview cam).

Then the UI doesn't seem very polished, it feels very bare bones android rather than something designed for automotive use. I mean theres a 12" screen but most of the common controls are relagated to a small section at the bottom and then you have to slide to get to temp controls and tap again just to adjust seat temp? A larger screen should focus on UI/UX Large, Easily reachable, readily accessible buttons.


But yeah for $1600, just not very polished. it feels more like an early proof of concept than a finished product.

 

[moe3754]

You are correct but all a linkswell really is, is an Android tablet with a radio tuner on it. Also, there are no upgrades as far as what version of Android it is running you are stuck with what is on there. Plus, there is no anti-virus on it even though you can access the internet with it. If you ever have to use the warranty expect to jump through many hoops before you get any help and if you need a warranty replacement radio, they do not send new radios for warranty replacement instead you get a refurb only, no matter how long you had it. They also do not pay for shipping on warranty returns they make the customer pay it. You were talking about navigation upgrade well they do have a good nav app built in but to access it you have to put out an extra $150.00 to get it activated and you have to hook up the radio to a cell phone data plan because it needs the internet to work properly that is why there is a sim card slot on the back of the radio. I could tell you more, but I will just say Linkswell is a company to stay far away from, look somewhere else for a radio!

Sponsored